Last weekend the top two slots were played for as Mombasa Heats faced Shree Cutchi Leva patel at the Coast gymkhana grounds. Playing without Kenyan cap Jimmy Kamande, Heats won the toss and took to the field aiming at exploiting the weakness in the SCLPS batting line-up. Umesh Vekaria (3/22) and Bruce Phillips (3/24) went right on to prove this true as they ripped through the SCLPS batting order with little resistance from Harshit Hirani (29) and Dhruv Pindoria (19) helping SCLPS reach 116 all out with over four overs to spare. In response, Geoffrey Evans (45) found himself losing partners as the SCLPS aggressive bowling attack ran through the Heats line-up and Yohann Castanha’s (21) helped Heats win the game with 9 balls to spare. Bhavesh Panchani (3/15) and Bipin Bhudia (3/28) making things HOT for the Heats boys.

Elsewhere, Mombasa Jaffery visited Mombasa Simba A on their home ground in Nyali and opted to bat at toss banking on their Kenyan Cap Steve Tikolo to deliver the goods. The players were not disappointed as Steve Tikolo easily scored 133 in a magnificently paced inning with the extras contributing 70 of the 270 run score. 20 runs being awarded in penalty as well. 47 runs were contributed by the remaining 11 players as Jaffery lost 9 wickets in the allotted overs. In reply, Simba A were uprooted for 106 in 24 overs as Regan Ochola took 5/45. Santosh Kumar (31) and Raj Shetty (26) trying valiantly to get the required runs. Mombasa Jaffery sits at 6th position on the 8 team points chart.

In the third game of the day, Burhani Sports Club made light work of Mombasa Simba B as they opted to field on their home turf. Satinder Singh Aitan (28) and Pyara Singh (30) played with patience to see their final tally reach 141/8 in the allotted 40 overs but the score was to prove to little as Burhani’s Murtaza Zafferali (2/39) and Mohammed Dadabhai (2/22) ensured a gettable target. In reply, Burhani’s Ammar Taibali (58*) and Taha Firoz (32) saw the home side to an easy victory in 19 overs with only 2 wickets to fall to Satinder Singh (1/6) and Dhruv Shukla (1/39). Although Burhani sit second from the bottom, their performance shows promise in games to come as Heats and SCLPS take the battle to the Coast Giants Mombasa Sports Club in the coming days.

After long, the coast cricket scene has become lively with some good cricket and star studded performances on offer for the die-hard cricket fans. It’s time once again to carry the flask and a bag of crisps and march to the grounds to watch live the revival of Coast Cricket.